High Risk of Suicide in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), evaluating possible risk factors for suicidality. Risk of suicide was assessed using the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) in 35 patients with bvFTD and 25 controls. According to SSI, 40% of patients with bvFTD had suicidal ideation in comparison to 8% of controls (P = .009). Four patients with bvFTD have attempted suicide versus none control (P = .006). Patients with bvFTD with suicide risk showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, stress, and hopelessness than patients without suicide risk (P < .001). Patients who attempted suicide were younger and had a longer disease duration than those with only suicide ideation. Intriguingly, 40% of patients with parkinsonism presented high level of suicide ideation. Our findings show that patients with bvFTD have a high risk of suicide. Additional studies in larger populations are needed to confirm our results